Hundreds gathered at National Bikers' Memorial event

As Clones enjoyed an early summer, bikers turned up in their hundreds for the 21st National Bikers’ Memorial last Friday (May 2).

Motorbikes of all shapes, sizes and colours gathered at the Sacred Heart church in Clones, an "amazing spectacle" according to organisers.

Speaking after the memorial a clearly delighted Chairperson Anne Marie Marshall thanked all those who travelled to the event.

"The simple fact of so many bikers inside and outside the church is a huge support to all who are grieving.

"We are so lucky and grateful to have such a wonderful community," she shared.

Once again Fr Stephen Joyce, Fr Jim Moore, Fr Tony Conlon, Fr Gabriel and the Rev Ian Cruickshank officiated the occasion. They were joined by Humanist celebrant Keane Harley, who is new to the memorial event.

He introduced the six stunning display bikes on the altar this year; a 1975 Honda CD175 thanks to Niall Greenan, an amazing custom 1992 1300 Suzuki Hayabusa owned by a very proud, David Hanlon from Dundalk, two road race bikes, one successfully raced by Adrian Archibald, from Ballymoney, for the TAS Suzuki team, now owned Tom McKone from Finglas. The second race bike, a Yamaha R6 Road Racing machine was raced by Alan Bonnar in 2010, who sadly lost his life on June 7, 2017 following an accident.

Another bike with "huge emotional connection" to the memorial was the 2020 KTM 1290 Super Adventure which was the proud possession of Vinny Smith from Lisnaskea, Co. Fermanagh.

Before his death in a road traffic accident, Vinny helped raised thousands for the National Bikers Memorial. Thanks were offered to his wife Tina, daughter Máiread and his son Shéa for allowing the committee to display this fine machine.

The final bike was a very poignant tribute to two friends who died in a motorcycle collision; a 1999 F4 Honda CBR 600 memorial bike formerly owned by Mark Eager. Mark’s image along with that of his closest friend Stuart O’Connell were painted on the tank by Andy Watters in their memory.

At the end of the service Secretary of the committee Brian MacUaid spoke to the attendees thanking them for their support of the National Bikers' Memorial.

"With your support we have been going 20 plus years, thanks to the renewed energy within the committee and it’s new members. We’d love to keep this going another twenty," Brian told those gathered.

The committee thanked everybody who helped organise and attended the event, making it another successful Bikers' Memorial.